Improvement in implement for shielding plants from a hoe



UNITED 4-fS'rA'rEs PATENT OFFICE.

Y ALEXANDER -KIEKPATEIGK, 0E NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT 4IN IMPLEMENT FoR'sI-IIELDING PLANTS FROM A Hor.

Sp' ecfic@firm forming part of Letters Patent No. 7 9,133, dated June 23, 1868.

PAflRiCL of tlleeityY of Newark, in the county nfjEsseX'and- St-'ate lof vNew Jersey, have in- :fented an Impienient. fer vShielding Garden- Plants from a Hoe; and 'I hereby'decla're theV following to be a lfull and exact' description of" vthe same, reference beingn had herein to the.

drawingsvthatlacco'inpany this speciiication as part of 'the same.. In'gardening for market a' variety ,of vegetables are, for convenience of cultivatiomsown or planted .in dri-lis or rows.` Irv-boeing the rows great care (Whi'eh'cons'umes time) has to be' taken to keep from injuringthesplants'by boeing so near as to, tear, up the rootsof vsuch as are in crustygreund, byfa moving of the crust by the 110e, and there is alwaysdanger 0f coyeringthe yo'ungsprouts with the clods or dirt thrown off the endot the blade of the hoe; 'there is, besides, a necessity'for removal ofsuperiinous or straggliug plants, which, if done, t were well -to be done quickly, without disturbance ofthe remainder. 1 i As an effectual provisionfor these needs, I construct a shield of `sheet metal, or of coinybined Vwood and ngetal, in length -l'rom"four 4to ten feet, in breadth-three to ve inches, with thelnwe'r edge serrated for crusty. and plain for. sandy ground. This is shown in Figure 1. Itwill be secu that, for convenience of setting, two handles are Aattached to the blade, the lower endsof the bars projecting below the lower edge of the shield when 'forced into the v f vearth; ste-adying and supporting the shield,

Fig. 2. I makebotb 'sides of the shield straight from the back to .the'lower edge, so that the eye of the operator can quickly see herenhont he is placing thev shield. The top edge is.

strengthened by bending it round a rod, or onto the edge of the wood when theyare hacked 'with wood ,as shown onthev end section 1, Fit-.3. 1

lhe shield can be madeldouhlefby bending the sheet metal over, so' that'n .man can Work oneach side of the row airone,"4 and the same time; and ifa hat barbe placed het'weenthe doubling, the edges of the shield coming together' when the broad sides of the -flat-bar are perpendicular, the'shield can beused as a single shield. (See end section 2, Fig. 3.) But when: the fiat sides are turned horizontal, als `in end section 3, Fig. 3,:thie edges are spread apart, and the plants tobe left'in the row will vbe'be'tween them when the shield is set over Y them, and thehoe can pass freely on both sides, Without the care and time required when hoed without-a shield'.

What I claim, and desire. to secure by het iters Eatent of the United States, isf- The shield,single or double, for prnt'ecting 

